Discoveries

4-seater see-saws...

rolly-pollies...

huge muscles...

abandoned teepees...

 secret gardens...

 gnome hideouts...

troll bridges...

Discovering there is still lots of life waiting to be lived in Indiana....

...and grateful to be living it. 

General Conference

General conference traditions are becoming some of my favorites.

Game night at home while Daddy is at the Priesthood session (where he listened to this talk- wow! and yes!) 

The tent, the candy game (which has morphed into the healthy-balance-of-lunch-snacks-and-a-few-unwrapped-candies-game), the crafts, packets and games- 

So many inspiring, comforting, and motivating talks, 

 And the mid-sessions stomp in the woods, even if it's the coldest day of the fall thus far.  

We love General Conference.

Things Boys Say

Adam chases Emma around the house calling, "Get that booty!  Get that booty!"

We were playing a game that required putting balloons inside little holes.  When Adam was struggling, he said, "Get in there, you little rascal!"

*****

Adam brought a pint-sized Buzz Lightyear to church.  When he started playing with it too loudly, Jason took it and put it in his suit coat pocket.  Adam said, in a muffled voice, "Hey! It's dark in here!"

*****

Play with Buzz Lightyear and Zurg, "Can I marry Emma and that can be her and this can be me?"

*****

"I don't like this music!  You should shut it off so it doesn't freak Emma out!"  (We were listening to the Tangled soundtrack.)

*****

While reflecting on the joys of nursery- "Sometimes we have bubbles in nursery and sometimes I get to pop them and sometimes I don't.  Sometimes the other kids pop all of de bubbles and I don't get any.... It's hard being little."

Adam continues to absorb everything I am teaching Leah during homework time.  He can count up to 34 and loves to quiz me on numbers.

While holding up one finger and two fingers- "What's dis"

M- "It's 3."

A- "No!  One and two!  What is it?!"

M- "Oh!  It's 12!"

Tricky little fellow.

*****

While trying to convince him that he does not need to come into our room in the middle of the night- "You need me!  I needed to come and check on you to help you and Daddy out in de night."

No, at 4:30 in the morning, all we really need is sleep.  We'll see how my efforts to bribe him with the promise of a toy if he stays in his bed go in the morning.

You Do The Crime...

...You pay the time.

The Horror!

We had a special treat of strawberry pancakes with whipped cream for breakfast.  I usually prefer to make my own whipped cream, but we had some of the canned variety left over from a recent ice cream social that needed to be used.

Once breakfast was ready and we all sat down to eat, Emma started crying.  We determined she hadn't pinched a finger or dropped her fork, then proceeded with the meal.  A few minutes later- more crying and we realized the culprit- the whipped cream!  The sound of it spraying really upset her.  We had to distract her anytime someone wanted seconds.

Oh, the whimpering... poor thing!

Check, Check and Check

Our Fall Family Fun list includes lots of "one-mores"- one more trip to Fair Oaks Dairy Farm, the Albanese Gummy Bear Factory, Lake Michigan, the snow cone shop, the temple... it all lent itself very nicely to a spur of the moment trip to Chicago last weekend.

Snow cone shop?  Check.

Fair Oaks Dairy Farm for some fresh chocolate milk and grilled cheese sandwiches for the road?  Check.

Temple visit and baby swap?  Check.

Lake Michigan?  Check.

The Grove?  Nope, but we did check out a fantastic (free!) farm that is just down the street from the temple.

Gummy bear factory?  Check.

We also stayed at a super fancy hotel (by the kids standards anyway, who likened it to the Disney Cruise)-

and ate an amazing breakfast Elly's- a local favorite just around the corner from the temple.

Oh, that stuffed french toast.  I was almost as impressed by it as I was with myself for ordering exactly the right amount of food and drinks to get everyone happy and full without a bit of waste.  Now that is skill!

It was another fantastic trip to Chicago.  Try as I might not to, it's hard not to get nostalgic about moments like these.  This was designed to be our last trip to Chicago as a family before we move.  Although we are still five months out, we found ourselves saying good-bye to the big city that we have enjoyed so, so much.  And how can we not be a little sad, when, during our first trip to Chicago, our family looked like this?

And a full year later at Lake Michigan, we just looked like this?

And now our family looks like this-

And my Indiana baby is taking strolls like this-

Time just marches right along.  I have learned that the key to making any place "home" is to start making lots of happy memories there.  When we first moved to Indiana I felt so unsettled- everything was so unfamiliar.  What would be our favorite restaurant? Park? Date night spot?  Family activity? Nearby destination of choice?  And now that we have discovered all of those favorites, it's time to start saying good-bye to them.  Bittersweet, indeed.

And then I remember that Jason and I are planning another trip to Chicago for our over-nighter in November, 

and I'm H-A-P-P-Y again!

October Already?!

We kicked off the month with a trip to the pumpkin patch. The same one we went to in 2009 and 2010 (and skipped last year because it's never really that great tromping through the mud and carrying 40 pounds of pumpkins, especially not with 3 kids in tow that all need to be carried and/or dragged along through the vines).

But this year was great! The weather was decent, the kids were agreeable and I only carried 35 pounds of pumpkins out of the patch. Plus Emma, but she's such a lightweight that half the time I forget that I'm holding her anyway. 

 Emma's face looks so odd in the picture because she is trying to catch the stream of snot that is coming out of her nose.  I'm guessing that is what Adam is doing, too.  Poor kids both have the sniffles.

I can hardly believe that we are kicking off the end of the year holidays, but I think the festivities officially upon us!